From Rohan to Rivendell
by lotrelves
Summary: A girl from our world lands in Rohan and makes her way to Rivendell. Along the way she encounters drama and danger that makes her wish she was safe at home. Currently being revised.
1. Chapter 1: The Arrival and Discovery

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that Tolkien created.

Chapter 1: The Arrival and Discovery

Elissa Bell sat at her desk reading her copy of "The Lord of the Rings". Her English teacher had given the class the assignment of reading the entire book in two months. Elissa was surprised that her teacher had given them such a short time to read the massive set of books. Besides, the books hadn't seemed like anything else Mrs. Smith had given them.

When the books were handed out in class many of Elissa's friends and classmates complained that they would never be able to finish all three volumes of the book in time. Admittedly, Elissa had groaned along with them. They said they were too busy because of all their other homework and plans.

Even though she hadn't been happy about it, Elissa knew it would be futile to complain. When Mrs. Smith's mind was set on something, it was set on something. And sure enough Elissa was right. Mrs. Smith just ignored the students' pleas and instead added a three-page report onto the assignment.

Elissa inwardly groaned at that fact, but knew it wouldn't be smart to argue with the teacher after that. However, one student just didn't get it.

"That's not fair Mrs. Smith," said Joseph Rowe from the back of the room.

" I guess you prefer a five page report instead then," said Mrs. Smith in an annoyed voice.

Everyone in the classroom (excluding the teacher of course) groaned at Joe's stupidity.

After that the bell rang for the weekend and everyone was out of the classroom faster than you could say "report".

Elissa sat up in her bed smiling fondly. She was thinking about how she had started reading, what she considered, the best book ever written. The events in the book were just so incredible that she couldn't believe there was ever a time she didn't want to read the book describing the adventures of a noble group of heroes on their way to do a noble deed. Even the more boring parts of the book were interesting in their own way.

The book always filled her with emotion. She felt the tears fill her eyes when she read about Gandalf falling. She felt a rush of joy during the chapters describing Hobbiton. She couldn't explain why she felt these emotions, but she did. She'd always been a sucker for a good story.

Because she loved the trilogy so much, she read it within a month and a half. Now she was just rereading one of her favorite parts, when the Fellowship arrives in Lothlórien. Even though she loved the entire book, she especially loved any part of the book that had to do with the forests and trees of Middle Earth.

Elissa lay back down on her bed so that she could be more comfortable while reading the book, and as she did so, she toyed with the thought of starting her report. She knew she should have started it immediately, but she just couldn't put down the book long enough to write anything more than the title. She'd always had a problem with procrastination when it came to book reports.

Elissa heard her mom calling her to come down to dinner, so she marked her place in the book and spit out her gum in the trashcan. On her way down, she hoped dinner wasn't meatloaf. She positively abhorred it.

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After dinner, which unfortunately was meatloaf, she came back to her room to continue her book, though at a different place. She couldn't understand what was so great about meatloaf. The rest of her family though, seemed to rather enjoy it.

But soon enough, all thoughts of meatloaf and her family vanished from her mind. Instead her thoughts were filled with the sounds of battle. The swords clashing, the bows firing, and the screaming that filled the air at the Battle of Helms Deep were her only thoughts.

As she started reading again a funny feeling came over her. It was like the nervous but excited feeling you get when you fly in a plane for the first time. The feeling invaded her senses like the smoke from a fire, but she paid the warning no heed. Instead she just brushed the strange feeling off thinking it was most likely a side affect of eating too much meatloaf. She smiled thinking about that and continued her book.

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That night as Elissa slept she had a strange dream. She dreamed she was floating above a beautiful world covered in smoke and flames. Elissa wanted desperately to do something but she was trapped floating amidst the clouds. Then she saw something that made her heart soar, even though she still couldn't do anything. A beautiful green forest like an oasis in the sea of destruction shone brightly against the black land. The forest was still alive, untouched by the wickedness of the destructive fires. After seeing this Elissa felt like there was hope, although she didn't know why. Whatever the cause of the destruction, she knew she'd never be able to help.

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When she awoke the next morning she discovered something that made her stomach churn. She was definitely not in her bedroom. She wasn't even in her house.

Author's note: Hey, I hope this has a bit more believability than the last time. :P R&R s'il vous plaît.


	2. Chapter 2: The Meeting on the Plains

Chapter 2: The Meeting on the Plains

A/N: I've revised this chapter.

Elissa stood on the plains wondering where in the world she was. This place didn't look anything like the city she lived in. Here there was a vast expansion of grass and many rocks and hills. At home the only place she had seen things like this was outside of the city, and even then another town or city would often interrupt it.

In the distance she could hear running water, possibly a river or a stream. She knew that there was a river in the city she lived in, but she usually couldn't hear it because of all the noise.

She could not figure it out. She had gone to bed in her room but had woken up some place else. After thinking about it for quite a while, she concluded that someone must have been playing a cruel prank on her. She felt quite worried because she didn't know where she was, but she was sure her parents would notice her absence and come looking for her.

A few hours later, as she sat by the river she had heard previously, she wasn't sure if her family even cared that she was gone.

Near the end of the day another problem confronted her. She heard her stomach growl.

She had no way to get any food, as she didn't know where she should go to get it. In addition, if she was ever lost, her parents always told her she was to wait for someone to find her. She wanted to believe that people were looking for her and that they would find her, but right now she wasn't sure that it would happen. So she abandoned the thought and set out on her own to try and find out where she was, and in which direction she would have to go to find her way home.

Late that night, after a couple of hours walking by the river, Elissa stopped and lied down to sleep. She needed to have as much energy as she could possibly muster for her journey home.

The next morning her growling stomach awakened her. Elissa couldn't take it any longer. She needed to eat. Now she was even more determined to find someone who could take her home, or at least tell her where her home was.

That afternoon, as she walked to the top of a hill, she saw something that made her lose her appetite. Instead of feeling a cold, hungry feeling, she felt like a rock had dropped into her stomach and was tumbling around inside her. As she looked down from the hill, she could see that there were no cities or towns anywhere.

At that point, she was more frightened than she had been earlier. She knew now that she was nowhere close to her home. She wasn't even sure if she was still in Pennsylvania.

She knew that she could go no further until she slept and ate. Unfortunately, for her, the latter was something she could not do. Walking a little further she collapsed from hunger and fatigue.

The next morning it was not her hunger that woke her, but the pounding sound of horses' hooves galloping towards her.

She immediately stood up, trying to jump quickly behind something to avoid getting trampled by them. As the horse passed her by, she saw that there were men riding the horses.

The men on the horses were unlike any she had seen. They were dressed in strange clothes and carried weapons. However, the weapons were not like the weapons she had ever seen before. Instead of carrying guns, they carried spears and swords.

As the group of riders galloped by her, Elissa looked at them warily. She wasn't sure if they were people she should ask help from, but she decided that all she could do was try. She jumped out from behind the brush she'd concealed herself in just as the end of the group passed.

The men soon surrounded her on all sides and the only thing she could do was try to think of something to tell them.

One of the men got off his horse and walked toward her. She looked at him and he looked at her. He was dressed in a very odd way. Almost like someone from the Middle Ages. He carried a sword and a spear and wore a helmet.

Elissa must have looked as strange to him as he did to her seeing as she wasn't exactly in what could be considered proper attire.

She was wearing a black tank top that was just a bit too small and her pants weren't exactly presentable either. They were pink and they were dirty. It shouldn't be surprising though. She hadn't bathed in quite a few days. She had been a little busy trying not to starve to think about hygiene. She tried to pull the bottom hem of her shirt down as far as she could.

The man said something to her that she didn't understand. She thought it might be Latin or Greek. It could have even been French. Elissa couldn't really be sure, because she couldn't speak those languages fluently. She was only taking French one in high school.

Elissa noticed that he was starting to give her a funny look. It seemed like he didn't trust her.

"Do you know where we are?" she asked.

The man just looked at her with a puzzled look, and the other men around him started to give Elissa hostile looks, like they suspected her of something.

After racking her brain for a few moments for what she hoped were the right words, Elissa asked the man the question again, only this time she asked him in French.

"Um, où sommes-nous?"

He gave Elissa a look that told her that he suspected her of something bad. He walked slowly towards her and lifted her up onto his horse. She began to scream thinking he might try to kidnap her. For all she knew, he might have been the one who brought her there in the first place. He called something out in the strange language and the other horses and riders took off.

The man, however, stayed behind for a few minutes trying to talk with Elissa. Elissa would have none of it, still convinced he was a very dangerous person. Besides, she'd already exhausted any way of speaking to him, as he didn't appear to know English or the bits and pieces of her French.

After a few minutes, the man decided to give up trying to communicate with her. He mounted the horse and took them in the direction of the other riders.

Elissa protested almost the entire way, though she didn't know why she bothered. He couldn't understand her anyway. Eventually, she just gave up and decided instead to play with the decoration hanging from his helmet to distract herself.

Elissa hated riding horses. She'd hated it ever since she fell off of one when she was four.

Her parents had decided to take Elissa and her sister Georgina to a ranch for a pony ride for her sister's 5th birthday.

Georgina had had no trouble with the horses at all; in fact they seemed to like her. Elissa on the other had a great deal of trouble.

The pony she was on decided that he would try to escape, so instead of a peaceful little ride Elissa got thrown from the horse.

As Elissa continued to annoy the man he eventually got fed up with her distraction. He took her off the horse and bound her hands behind her with a piece of rope.

After about thirty minutes, he caught up with the rest of the riders and explained that he was going to keep Elissa with him, seeing as she could still be a spy. Of course, Elissa didn't know anything about this, and she certainly wasn't what they suspected her of being.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Feel free to review in anyway you want!


	3. Chapter 3: Traveling on Horseback

Chapter 3: Traveling on Horseback

Author's note: Heh, this chapter needed MAJOR revision. :P And after like, what, two years? Here it is.

Some time after they had begun riding with the group, Elissa started to feel like she was going to pass out. It was now late afternoon. She desperately needed to eat something. She hadn't eaten for two and a half days. She started to shiver as a wind picked up and the sky began to darken.

Soon the men stopped their horses, much to Elissa's gratitude. They dismounted from their horses and began to makes some sort of camp. The man who had taken Elissa on his horse took her down and placed her on the ground. Mere seconds after that, Elissa felt like her legs were on fire. She vowed never to ride another horse after this little adventure.

After their camp had been set up, the men began to cook a small dinner. Elissa's stomach gave a vicious growl as the smells assaulted her nose like a gust of wind and she doubled over. She lay down and began to moan softly. She wasn't sure if she should ask for food. Or even how she should. She lay down feeling defeated and began to cry softly. She wanted to go home.

One of the men still setting up his camp looked over at her with eyes of pity. He stopped what he was doing to untie her arms that were still behind her. After he did so, she looked at him with thankful eyes and tried to tell him something. She motioned to the men that were cooking, then to her stomach, and then held up three fingers. He gave her a puzzled look. The first two signs were clear. She wanted food. But the third was quite confusing. Whatever it was supposed to indicate, it did not matter.

He stood up and walked over to the man that had brought her along and asked him if they should provide food for the strange girl. He nodded his head. If she was a spy, they needed her alive to find out what she knew.

The second men went over to one of the other men and asked for a bit of bread and water. He brought them back to Elissa and she quickly took them and devoured them hungrily. A few seconds after eating those, she again made motions to the men and her stomach. She wanted more. The man went back over and got another piece of bread. After eating it, the girl again gave him a thankful look, and lied down to sleep.

After she had fallen into a deep sleep, the first man went over to the second and told him that he would watch over the girl. The second got up and went back over to his site, leaving his leader to deal with the child.

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The next morning, before Elissa awoke, the men had picked up their camp and prepared to leave. The leader wondered what he would do with the girl this time, since he did not know who she was or where to take her or even how to get any information out of her. He walked over to her and woke her up by gently shaking her shoulders. She blinked a few times and went back to sleep, mumbling something. He sighed. They had to get moving. He picked her up and hoisted her onto his horse again. As he did so, she woke up and looked around wildly. He handed her a piece of bread and some water and then mounted his horse. She blinked again and then shrugged her shoulders as she began to eat.

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During the course of that day, the horses galloped on for hours at rapid speeds. Elissa began to get tired again and tried to avoid leaning forward and falling asleep on the men in front of her. That would probably earn her a lot of trouble with both him and the horse.

Finally they came to a stop on a hill to make camp. Elissa sighed and slipped off of the man's horse with a crash. With a mumbled groan and a curse, she got back up on unsteady legs. She was definitely never riding a horse ever again. This was worse than the last time.

Another man approached her with a small bowl of stew and she gladly took it. As she ate, the man sat next to her. He pointed to himself and said, "Réadeorðe." At first she gave him a look of confusion, but after a few moments a look of realization. "Elissa," said she, pointing to herself. The man, satisfied by that, went to go tell Éomer. Elissa sat there slightly confused way that man chose to introduce himself to her. She shrugged and continued to eat the stew.

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Later that night, the sounds of shouts and the drawing of weapons startled Elissa out of her sleep. She sat up to see what was going on and saw the men mounting their horses. She ran over to the man that had introduced himself to her.

"Réadeorðe!" He turned at his name. "What is going on?" She gave him a confused look, though he couldn't much see it in the dark hoping he could understand her. He did not understand what she said, but he heard the worried tone of her voice. He pointed down the hill at a forest and what was outside. She squinted to try and get a better view, and what she saw made her jumped back and cry out in fear. Those had to be the most ugly and terrifying creatures she had ever seen.


End file.
